This site claims they were not only the first to launch, they did so well before the episode of The League. Memberships start at $10.95 a month. That $10.95 gets you one item from their selection (ties, pocket squares, cufflinks, tie bars) for you to use and exchange whenever you want. $19.95 gets you three items, $29.95 five items, and so on. Looks like you can take 50% off your first month with the code WINTER.

FreshNeck was just featured on LifeHacker, and they’re going after this a little differently. There are three levels of membership, but you don’t get any more ties or accessories for the money. You get access to better brands for that extra cash, plus a few other benefits (it’s a bit complicated… you can see how it breaks down here at their site). The base $15 membership gets you three items at a time from brands like Calvin Klein, Penguin, The Tie Bar, DKNY, etc… $35 gets you access to brands like Burberry, Brooks Brothers, and Ralph Lauren. $55 and you’re in the Zegna territory. They also appear to have the slickest looking website.

Update: Founder and CEO of Freshneck David Goldgerg points out that “it’s not 3 items a month, but rather 3 items at a time, exchanging as often as the USPS will allow. Second, FreshNeck lists outright the prices to purchase an item (or if it is destroyed).”

Yes, they clean the ties. All of these places say they clean the ties thoroughly, which is expected. You never know when you’ll get the tie Albert the assistant coroner in Terre Haute wore on toe-tag day.

No, you can’t just cancel your membership and keep a tie. Well, you can, but all of these sites will charge your card some mystery amount if you cancel and fail to return the ties within a set time period (usually 5 – 7 days). TieTry says they’ll charge your card for the same amount as if you had destroyed the tie. But how much precisely? That’s unknown. Just “the retail value of the tie”. TieSociety says a cancellation & failure to return and “your payment Method will be billed accordingly.” Eesh.

Time Limits don’t exist. Of course they want you to keep the ties for as long as possible. That means they get to keep charging you for your monthly membership without doing exchanges. Sounds like a good deal for them.

Fees to clean major stains do exist. Cost of regular cleanings is included in your membership. If it’s something big that they need to clean but hasn’t completely ruined the tie, they’ll charge you for the cleaning. Tie Society is 10% of the retail value. Tie Try is $12. Freshneck is $8.

So would you? It seems like these things have caught fire as of late. Or does the idea of renting ties seem… odd? Leave it all below, under the back and forth clip of The League w/ TieTry on Shark Tank via AodzDev:

Comments

For me, regarding FreshNeck, it doesn’t make sense to pay $15 to rent three CK, DKNY, Penguin, etc. tie when you can pay $4 more (without coupons that is) to get one from a discount retailer (Loehmann’s, etc.). With coupons/sales, it would be the same $15 or less to own that quality of necktie.

Selection is a non-factor for me because the choices at my local discount store is pretty vast.

The added responsibilities of storing the tie and cleaning the tie every so often don’t outweigh the benefits of owning the tie and being able to use it for a very long time.

I’m against the idea of renting ties, and I’ll tell you why. Personal style. It’s about finding things that work for you and making them your own. I can find amazing ties at my local thrift stores for $2 a piece, all qualities and brands, and it’s something that I find people appreciate. People get a preference for certain ties, the cute girl at the grocery store? She always gives me an extra smile when I’ve got my blue knit on. Things like that, which can’t be replicated on a rental plan. Well, they can, but it’s not reasonable.

Seems like in the long-run it would just be cheaper to buy a few quality ties and keep a good rotation. That way you don’t have to worry about getting a tie that someone used in the last to hang themselves.

Seems like $15 a month for access to less-versatile neckties, since there’s no reason to rent the workhorses. I think a better idea would be to start local groups where you swap ties (maybe one each of a set of colors/patterns) every month or so to freshen up variety.

Thanks for the write-up! Just want to clarify two things. First, it’s not 3 items a month, but rather 3 items at a time, exchanging as often as the USPS will allow. Second, FreshNeck lists outright the prices to purchase an item (or if it is destroyed). Use code “Dappered” to get 50% off your first month.

I’m with you. Only… I’m more in the buy six (instead of twelve, that’s a lot of ties for me) ties camp. You’ve really got to be into variety to try one of these services out. I’m just not there myself.

It’s a ridiculous idea. That’s why Taco on The League came up with it. With the ease of finding high-quality ties at thrift stores (especially for those in larger metropolitan areas), it doesn’t make much sense to pay 5x as much just to rent one for a month or so.

Tie Bar already has a yearly tie of the month club and it’s cheaper than most of these places (and there you get to keep the tie). Still, I think there is a market for this, especially in places like DC were more people HAVE to wear ties than WANT to wear them.

I have a good rotation of decent quality ties and other ties that I like (from Tie Bar to Personality Milano) but for $15 a month and having the option to rent a few $190 Hermes ties seems like a decent option.

Tie Society is actually DC-based for this reason. Ties are like a religion to those people. Also, a large chunk of their business is guys who hate wearing ties, but want a nice one for a particular event. They’ll rent an Hermes for a wedding and return immediately after they’re done.

I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, but if I like a tie, I will wear it. Therefore I wear the ones I actually buy the most frequently. I only wear ties 2x a week so I definitely take time to pick them out.

I have about 20 ties. Half of them I actually bought myself. The other ones I received as a gift, so I don’t wear them that much. I didn’t spend any money on them so it doesn’t matter as much to me.